US space agency Nasa is hiring astronauts. You can even apply online at a
giant government jobs website.

There is only one hitch: Nasa does not have any of its own spaceships anymore and is sending fewer fliers into orbit right now.

"The experience is well worth the wait," promised Nasa flight crew operations director Janet Kavandi as the space agency started a public search for new astronauts.

There will be flights, but not many, with the space shuttle fleet retired. A handful of astronauts each year are launching on a Russian Soyuz spaceship to the International Space Station for six-month stays.

In about three to five years, Nasa hopes to pay for trips for astronauts headed to the space station on American-built commercial rockets instead. And eventually, Nasa hopes to fly astronauts in a government-owned Orion capsule to an asteroid or even Mars, but those pioneering trips are more than a decade away.

With veteran astronauts leaving the space agency, Ms Kavandi said Nasa is afraid it will not have enough astronauts, something a National Research Council report pointed out in September.

Nasa needs about 55 astronauts, and with a new class of nine already graduated this month, the astronaut roster is up to 58. One of those new astronauts will get to fly to the space station as early as 2013, Ms Kavandi said.

"We're ready to serve; we're ready to get going," new astronaut Serena Aunon said at Nasa headquarters.

So to find candidates, Nasa revealed what its personnel chief called its biggest ever push to hire new astronauts, with dozens of cheering elementary school students there to ask questions.

In the past, when Nasa had a space shuttle, the space agency did not make such a big deal of searching for astronauts, and they were inundated with applications. This new drive comes with a YouTube recruitment video complete with flashy images and techno background music.

"We need you to help plan for this future of exploration," Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden says in the video. "Join Nasa. Get your application in now for the 2013 astronaut candidate class. Your spaceflight experience begins right now."

Before you polish up your resume, Nasa is not loosening its standards. You must have at least a bachelor's degree - most astronauts have a master's or a doctorate - in engineering, biological science, physical science or math. You must learn Russian, but be a US citizen. You must know basic physics. Being a medical doctor or a teacher helps. You must have vision that can be corrected to 20/20, no high blood pressure and be between 5 feet 2 inches (1.5 meters) and 6 feet 3 inches (1.8 meters).

Given these tight requirements, Nasa probably still will get 3,000 qualified applicants, Ms Kavandi said. The job pays between $64,700 and $141,700 a year.

And if you are hired expect to do lots of travel to foreign countries. And oh yes, maybe into space.